Identity, fashion and dress consumption by immigrants : a focus on ethnic dress and/or hijab

Abstract

This study highlights and explores how Canada’s multicultural policy influences the relationship between fashion and identity of racialized diaspora communities in Canada. It focuses on traditional dress and/or the Hijab, a religious dress among diaspora communities in Canada. However, the study demonstrates that consumption of these items among immigrants varies, with some immigrant communities displaying stronger ethnic identity than others. The consumption of these goods shapes one’s ethnic or religious identity. The two theoretical approaches shed insights on the complex relationship between ethnic fashion/dress, religious dress and ethnic identity. The study concludes that although symbols of ethnic identity such as ethnic fashion and/or religious dress are increasingly being contested due to political ideology, they have served members of their respective diasporic communities quite well in that they have allowed them to display and celebrate their identity, and thus produce a particular theme of their identity within Canadian multiculturalism. Key words: Fashion, ethnic dress/clothing, veil/religious dress, immigrants and diaspora.